30 AMERICANWAY
NOVEMBER 1 2007
ILLUSTRATIONBYSHONAGHRAE
B O O K I N G I T
ChRIs BAtY kNoWs
how to make you
work. Because of him, people hide in their
bathrooms during Thanksgiving dinner,
working to finish their assignments.Others
toil nonstop for 30 hours in order tomeet
their deadlines. Is Baty the scariest boss
ever, channeling a
The Devil Wears Prada
vibe? No, he’s just the creator of National
NovelWritingMonth.
A former travel andmusicwriter, Baty is
the mastermind of a self-described “dumb
idea” that, eight years later, has blossomed
intoabona fidegreatone.Theconcept?Get
a group of peoplewhowill each commit to
writinga50,000-wordnovel in30days.
“It started as an event for people who,
for better orworse, lovedbooks but hadno
ideawhat theywere doing,” Baty says. This
month, NaNoWriMo, as it’s known, begins
its ninth round. The writing fest started
in 1999 with only 21 contenders but has
grown exponentially ever since. Last year,
79,000people from69 countries signedup
at NaNoWriMo.org, and 13,000 of those
count verific tion. Writers can keep their
workprivateorpost excerptson thegroup’s
website. As soon as the excerpts are in the
archives, they’reavailable forpublicviewing
— and that means publishing houses have
access to them.
While dreams of glory and publishing
deals surely inspire some of thewriters, it’s
the NaNoWriMo community’s encourag-
ing, everyone-can-do-it attitude that many
find especially appealing. Online forums
helpwriters work through plot snafus, and
area coordinators plan local events such as
groupwriting sessions and ThankGod It’s
AnE-Novel¬dea
Write a50,000-wordbook in30days? Impossible,
you say?Thismonth, 100,000peoplewill try to
prove youwrong.
ByAngelaChang
managed to cross the finish line. This year,
there are expected to be 100,000 partici-
pants. These dedicated wannabe novelists
will lock themselvesaway fordaysanddays,
typing, scrutinizing, and, no doubt, crying
as they strive tomeet theirwordquotas.
sIgNINg up foR
NaNoWriMo is free,
though organizers encourage each writer
to donate something to cover administra-
tive and web-hosting costs. Once partici-
pants have finished writing their 50,000
(or more) words, they should e-mail their
manuscripts to NaNoWriMo for word-
